The head of the US Chamber of Commerce today praised Ireland's tax regime and called on the State to remain committed to its economic strengths.
Addressing a dinner held by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland (CPA), Thomas J Donohue, president and chief executive of the US Chamber of Commerce, said the Irish economy is proving its resiliency in the face of extremely difficult circumstances, driven by the strong base of US multinationals in Ireland.
However he warned: “US firms will remain committed to Ireland only as long as Ireland remains committed to its competitive strengths.
“The trading relationship between our two countries might originally have been built on the historic social ties binding Ireland and the United States, but today it is very much a relationship of strong economic ties”, he said.
“US companies employ roughly 100,000 people in Ireland but Irish companies employ an estimated 82,000 Americans at over 2,600 locations in all 50 states. The value of trade between our countries exceeds $40 billion, so there is a mutual benefit to both economies in this strong trading relationship being supported with positive Government policies on both sides of the Atlantic,” Mr Donohue said.
He told the dinner that in the face of pressure from the European Union, it would have been very easy for Ireland to “throw overboard the favourable tax climate” that has helped transform Ireland into a hub of innovation, technology and services.
“Instead Ireland has rightly said no, we’re not going to squander our most important competitive strengths. This is to your Government’s credit and is a very strong signal to send to the international investment community,” he said.
Gail McEvoy, president of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland, said: “By containing a European problem and by shouldering a large debt burden on behalf of Europe, the Irish taxpayer deserves better then to be lectured on our tax policy by other European leaders.
“We must continue to focus on our competitiveness and in particular we must be careful that measures to increase domestic exchequer receipts, such as the recent pension levy, do not have unintended consequences which frighten potential investors,” she said.
